Promotion is ours to lose, says Cardiff City hero Tommy Smith

Tommy Smith, Cardiff City’s match-winner at Blackpool, admits promotion to the Premier League is the Bluebirds to lose.

Tommy Smith, Cardiff City’s match-winner at Blackpool, admits promotion to the Premier League is the Bluebirds to lose.

The 2-1 win at Bloomfield Road sent Malky Mackay’s men 10 points clear at the summit of the Championship. Smith, who was making his first start in nearly three months after a hamstring injury, was part of QPR’s promotion season.

And he insisted: “It is ours to lose from here on in. We’ve worked our socks off to get to this point. There are a lot of good teams, but the consistency we have had so far has got us to this point and we are going to work as hard as we can to try and keep the 10 points barrier.

“The gaffer and staff won’t let us get complacent. They are at us every day about doing things professionally.

“Nobody will take their foot off the gas. Everyone is desperate to play at the highest level, a lot haven’t had that chance.

“It’s driving us on so much that I can’t see any complacency setting in.

“The year we went up QPR were never 10 points clear, we had a five or six point gap at some points, but never 10. It’s nice to have, but it’s a lot of pressure too. Teams are going to give that bit extra to beat the team at the top of the table.

“Everyone has labelled Cardiff a ‘nearly-team’ over the last few years and it’s tough. A lot of fans expect us to do well up to a point and then slip up, but we are trying hard for that not to happen this time.”

Smith, who admits he is still working his way back to 100% fitness, flew out with his team-mates yesterday for a five-day training camp in Dubai. But he said it was not going to be a holiday under the watchful eye of boss Mackay.

Smith said: “It will be a bit of everything. It’s good for team-bonding. Good to spend some time with the guys because we don’t get that much time together.

“There will be a chance to relax, but it is very much a working trip. It would be stupid to treat it as a holiday.”

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